The course provides an in-depth understanding of the principles and developmental contexts of theatrical anthropology, contributing to an awareness of the interplay between practice and theory in the processes of analysis and study of the theatrical context.
teacher profile teaching materials
These are some of the questions that Theatre Anthropology has been asking since its foundation in 1979 during the sessions of the ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology). The aim of this course is to explore some of these questions. The main tool will be the analysis of this “science” which questions, studies and identifies the principles underlying the construction of the stage presence of a human being, belonging to different cultures, geographies and eras, in an organised performance situation.
What pearls are we going to fish?
Eugenio Barba, Nicola Savarese L’arte segreta dell’attore. Un dizionario di Antropologia Teatrale, Bari, edizioni di pagina, 2005
(some fragments chosen during the lessons)
Eugenio Barba, La conquista della differenza. Roma, Bulzoni, 2012 (some chapters chosen during the lessons)
Programme
The actor-dancer is a pearl diver, says Eugenio Barba, founder of Odin Teatret and creator of Theatre Anthropology. Pearl divers exist in all theatrical traditions, in many performing cultures of the East and West, and in every era. What do these actor-dancers-fishermen have in common? How do they build their knowledge without sinking into the dark waters of the ocean of spectators? How do they break down the stylistic elements of a private identity and the spontaneous attitudes of everyday life? How do they shape the transformation of a formless flow of energy into a dynamic scenic structure made up of signs capable of conveying meanings and emotions, in other words, of establishing a relationship? How does one construct what Renzo Vescovi has called the body-orchestra of the actor-dancer, with all its levels of organisation and complexity? What and how many are the paths that lead from the pre-expressive level to that particular quality of stage presence that will shake the kinaesthetic sense of who sees?These are some of the questions that Theatre Anthropology has been asking since its foundation in 1979 during the sessions of the ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology). The aim of this course is to explore some of these questions. The main tool will be the analysis of this “science” which questions, studies and identifies the principles underlying the construction of the stage presence of a human being, belonging to different cultures, geographies and eras, in an organised performance situation.
What pearls are we going to fish?
Core Documentation
Eugenio Barba, La canoa di carta. Trattato di antropologia teatrale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2026Eugenio Barba, Nicola Savarese L’arte segreta dell’attore. Un dizionario di Antropologia Teatrale, Bari, edizioni di pagina, 2005
(some fragments chosen during the lessons)
Eugenio Barba, La conquista della differenza. Roma, Bulzoni, 2012 (some chapters chosen during the lessons)
Attendance
attendance is not compulsory out of a total number of 36 hours only 6 hours of absence are allowedType of evaluation
an oral examination covering the content of the textbooks as well as the content of the lectures